Identity theft occurs when a person or entity takes and uses another person's identification information as his or her own. Identity theft can include (1) financial identity theft, such as using another person's name and social security number (“SSN”) to obtain goods or services, including credit, or (2) identity cloning, such as using another's personal information to assume his or her identity in daily life, including when accused of committing a crime. Costs associated with identity theft, particularly financial identity theft, are substantial and may be over $50 billion per year in the United States. Furthermore, identity theft disrupts a useful system in which individuals can use their personal information to identify themselves and provide some assurance to another party during a commercial or person-to-person transaction that recourse is available upon the non-performance of the identified individual.
Various systems and methods for theft protection have been implemented to reduce or eliminate identity theft. One such system and method involves monitoring an individual's credit file for events or changes. If an event or change occurs, the individual may be notified through a communication method such as email. The individual can then determine if the event or change is fraudulent and take appropriate action.
Such systems and methods are useful for detecting identity theft for individuals who have established a credit file. However, a credit file is established when an individual becomes an active credit user, which typically does not occur until persons are at least sixteen years old. Children (i.e., generally individuals age sixteen or less) or other individuals without credit files are more susceptible to identity theft because credit bureaus may have difficulty in monitoring for identity theft for those persons without a credit file. Systems and methods are desirable that can reduce or prevent identity theft for children who have yet to establish a credit file independently.